High-temperature mechanical behavior of plasma sprayed lanthanum zirconate coatings

Rare-earth zirconates are potential materials for thermal barrier coatings. Their properties are not still well known, due to any lacks in processing and characterization techniques. To this purpose lanthanum zirconate coatings were herein manufactured by plasma spraying. The coatings exhibited high porosity, due to the presence of pores, splat boundaries and microcracks. The high-temperature evolution of mechanical properties was investigated by arranging specific bending tests up to 1500 °C using SiC testing assembly which allows to reconstruct and measure the sample curvature and the deformation. At higher temperatures the coatings showed an inelastic behavior, related to their unique microstructure, as well as a toughening effect.